Microsoft Connector bus starts its engines

Wireless Internet, limited stops give service an edge over public transit

JOSEPH TARTAKOF, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

By JOSEPH TARTAKOFF, P-I REPORTER

Updated 10:00 pm, Monday, September 24, 2007

Software engineer Jaspreet Bakshi arrives at the Overlake Transit Center at Microsoft's Redmond campus Monday, the first day of service for the new bus line.
Photo: Paul Joseph Brown/Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Microsoft Corp.'s launch Monday of its Connector bus service was so meticulously planned that even the bumps in the road were expected.

Employees who boarded the white buses that linked the Queen Anne and Capitol Hill neighborhoods to the company's corporate headquarters were greeted with three-paragraph-long notes printed out and placed on their seats, apologizing for "moderate to heavy vehicle vibration" caused by "uneven surface streets."

Nobody seemed to notice the bumps.

Distracted or impressed by the wireless Internet, plush seats and the speed of the commute (none of the buses made more than three stops), most of the passengers arriving in Redmond from Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, Issaquah, Mill Creek and Sammamish said they would take the Connector again.

Bryan Rutberg, a director in Microsoft's consulting services group, was the first to board the Queen Anne route, 15 minutes before it departed on time at 6:45 a.m. from the corner of Queen Anne Avenue North and Crockett Street. He said the bus was "just like being on a plane" and that he had signed up to take the Connector to work almost every day.

If any Microsoft employee did have complaints, he or she didn't have to make much of an effort to find someone with whom to speak.

At each of the 12 stops across the region, at least one "ambassador," wearing a green Connector-branded jacket, directed Microsoft employees to the buses. They also handed out goodie bags filled with a coffee mug, water bottle and umbrella -- all imprinted with the Connector logo. At the destination, the Overlake Transit Center, even more green-decked employees waited, in front of a backdrop of trays of bagels, muffins, croissants and thermoses of Starbucks coffee.

Microsoft officials said the debut was a success. On "Opening Day," more than 1,351 people were expected to take the bus and almost 80 percent of the seats were filled, said Lou Gellos, a Microsoft spokesman.

Indeed, a number of employees who arrived in Redmond before 8:30 a.m. said they were taking early-morning buses only because there were no seats left at more convenient times.

Gellos said an expansion of the program already was being planned, although it would not be immediate. Chris Owens, Microsoft's general manager for real estate and facilities, said the company would monitor ridership and make necessary adjustments.

The company said its program, which can transport a total of about 1,500 employees, will boost the productivity of its workers (who can work while riding the bus) and reduce congestion.

But some riders said they were substituting trips on the Connector for commutes on public buses.

Jong Lee, an Xbox entertainment devices business manager, said he used to take two public buses to reach the Microsoft campus from Queen Anne, a process he said was inconvenient. Matthew Pearlson, a Windows software development engineer in test who was also on the Queen Anne route, recalled having to be "aggressive" to get a seat on the public bus.

Randall Williams, a transportation specialist with the commute program at Microsoft, who was greeting the employees as they disembarked, said the Connector's routes had been designed partly so they "didn't really poach riders" from the public transportation system.

Still, Lincoln Atkinson, a software design engineer in test, who arrived at the Overlake Transit Center on a public bus, noticed it was "a little bit less full" than usual. He planned to take the Connector back home.

As for the supposedly bumpy ride, "an improved suspension system will be retrofitted" within two to three weeks to cut back on the vibrations, according to the note left on the Connector seats.